Egg Eaters!!! NEED HELP asap

[cluckmecoop7]

I'm afraid I have egg eater(s). Today me and one of my family members went out to feed my chickens and get eggs. I let my family member get the eggs because she enjoys doing it and when she pulled out the second egg she turned to me and said "Is this fine?". What I saw surprised me greatly (as I have never seen my chickens act so naughty), I saw yolk on the egg. (It was just on the shell, of course.)

The next egg she pulled out also had yolk, and when I poked my head in I saw yolk everywhere and few pieces of egg shell. Then I new what happened. :|
At that moment some of the naughty chickens ran in to "help" me clean up! They started trying to eat the left overs but I shooed them out and shut the door so they could not bother me while I cleaned up. After I did everything - scraped out the nesting box, cleaned the remaining eggs, cleaned the fake eggs (to show them the right place to lay), etc - I put new wood shavings and came inside straight to my computer

So, why did they start egg eating? How do I get them to stop? Any tips welcome.

- Clucky

P.S. > Thank you so much for reading my long post.

 

[chickenhugger69712]

Hello! I have heard that sometimes the cause for egg eating is because the chicken is bored. On Amazon there are some chicken play balls that you can buy and then fill with treats - such as apples without seeds- and it will take them a while to take the treats out of the ball. This should help if the problem is the chicken being bored.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thanks! I'm a little busy right now and will have to reply with detail later.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Ok first DON'T PANIC.

Occasionally an egg may be cracked when being laid. It could have had a weaker shell, landed on another egg, or been knocked around as the hen got into position to lay HER egg.
It is normal for several hens to eat the broken egg.
It does not mean you have an egg eater. It does mean that an egg was eaten....but not that it is a habit.

If it happens regularly then it is time to look at ways to break an egg eater or making roll out nest boxes.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thank you! I'm happy for your advice. As I said before I can reply with more detail later....

 

[mamajos]

I had that same thing happen just recently. Three separate days, partial egg shell, nothing inside. I put ceramic eggs in the nest boxes, and also made sure I gathered eggs right away. There has been no more egg eating. I hope I nipped it in the bud. Maybe this will help you.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

I had that same thing happen just recently. Three separate days, partial egg shell, nothing inside. I put ceramic eggs in the nest boxes, and also made sure I gathered eggs right away. There has been no more egg eating. I hope I nipped it in the bud. Maybe this will help you.

Thank you, yes it did.